Michael T. McPhearson is the national executive director ofVeteransForPeace. He was a field artillery officer in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division during Desert Shield /Desert Storm, also known as Gulf War I. A native of Fayetteville North Carolina, the town adjacent to Fort Bragg -home to Special Forces headquarters and the 82nd Airborne, Michael joined the Army Reserve 1981 as an enlisted soldier at the age of 17 and attended basic training the summer between his junior and senior high school years. He is a ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate of Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. His military career includes 6 years of reserve service and 5 years of active duty service. He separated from active duty in 1992 as a Captain.

Michael is a former co-chair of the Saint Louis based Don't Shoot Coalition that formed in the aftermath of Michael Brown's police killing death in Ferguson, MO. From August 2010 to September 2013, Michael worked as the National Coordinator with United ForPeaceand Justice. He is a former board member ofVeteransForPeaceand as well as Executive Director from 2005 to 2010. He worked closely with the Newark based People’s Organization for Progress and the Saint Louis centered Organization for Black Struggle. Michael is a member of the National Association of Colored People, The American Civil Liberties Union and Military Families Speak Out. Michael’s son, now an Armyveteranhimself; served a tour in Iraq in 2005 to 2006.